Pat Novak for Hire: Geranium Plant 05/14/1949

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Pat Novak for Hire: Geranium Plant" (Aired 05/14/1949)

Podcast: Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio
Host: Choice Classic Radio
Episode: Pat Novak for Hire: Geranium Plant
Summary Date: January 24, 2026

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Main Theme & Purpose

The episode plunges listeners into a classic hard-boiled crime mystery set on the San Francisco waterfront. Private investigator Pat Novak finds himself entangled in a web of deception, murder, and espionage—all centered on a seemingly innocuous geranium plant. Through gritty dialogue and atmospheric storytelling, the episode unpacks layered betrayals among a group of former government agents desperate to get their hands on a high-stakes formula.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Pat Novak’s Unusual Job Offer (00:00–03:38)

• Novak introduces himself and his work as a “for hire” fixer on the tough waterfront.
• At Noonan’s Bar, he’s approached by an alluring and mysterious woman:
  • She offers him $50 to pick up a geranium from a flower stand at Post and Kearney and deliver it to a specific address, stressing secrecy and caution.
  • As Novak puts it:

    “For 50 bucks, I'll act like we're married.” (03:04)

2. Pick-Up Gone Wrong (03:38–06:17)

• Novak encounters the flower vendor, Gerard, whose evasiveness raises suspicions. Novak receives the plant for free—another oddity.
• A small, wrinkled man with a cane starts following Novak, highlighting the growing sense of danger.
• Novak survives an apparent hit-and-run attempt, underlining the job’s peril.

3. A Dying Recipient and a Dead End (08:22–10:54)

• Novak delivers the geranium to a sickly woman in a rooming house.
• Her cryptic remarks suggest she expects trouble. After the encounter, Novak is left with unanswered questions and a deep unease:

  “I felt like a man in quicksand complaining about his height.” (09:50)

4. Inspector Hellman Suspects Novak (10:54–13:19)

• Back home, Novak is confronted by Inspector Hellman, who reveals a man was murdered—poisoned by a needle hidden inside a geranium box.
• Hellman claims there was no woman and that the room was rented by George Langley, further incriminating Novak.
• The evidence tightens around Novak, who insists on his version.

5. Jocko Madigan, the Boozy Sidekick (14:30–17:19)

• Novak seeks help from Jocko Madigan, an alcoholic ex-doctor with a comedic, fatalistic take on life:

  "Confidentially, I hate martinis. I just drink them for the vitamins." (14:39, Jocko)

• Details shared: Novak was trailed, possibly had the plant switched during the hit-and-run, and must find the mysterious woman.

6. The Double-Cross Revealed (18:22–20:46)

• Novak confronts the original woman in the crime scene. She claims:
  • The plant Novak delivered wasn't poisoned when she arranged the job; someone switched it.
  • She suspects George Langley, implicating wider and deeper intrigue.
• When pressed for answers, she pulls a gun—tension peaks as Novak is knocked out from behind.

7. Murders, Espionage, and No Flower Stand (21:25–24:10)

• Novak awakens to find the man with the cane dead and Inspector Hellman investigating.

• Key twist: There is no flower stand at Post and Kearney—the site of the original pick-up.

  "There's no florist stand at Post in Kearney." (22:08, Hellman)

• Information surfaces: The little man with the cane was George Langley, an espionage agent.

8. The Final Confrontation on Janet Street (25:09–27:42)

• All parties converge at Langley's apartment:
  • The main woman (Evie), Gerard (the flower vendor), Novak, Jocko, and Hellman.
  • Everyone scrambles for a bag containing part of a secret formula; tempers and guns flare.
  • Gerard and Evie betray each other as Novak and Hellman intervene. The dying woman collapses, and the deadly web unravels.
• Evie’s bitter final words add noir emotion:

  “They watched me get sick. They didn't do anything about it. They sat around waiting for the last ounce of blood to dry up.” (27:02, Evie)

9. Resolution and Reflection (27:42–29:05)

• Hellman learns the backstory: The five characters were former collaborators in espionage—now torn apart by greed and betrayal over a stolen chemical formula smuggled inside the geranium.
• Novak comments on human nature:

  "Most people are full of a lot of good and a lot of bad. The day we met him, all the bad was showing." (28:57, Novak)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “She walked with a nice friendly movement like the trap door on a gallows.” (03:38, Novak, on the mysterious woman)
• “The pleasure's limited. Like giving somebody a hot foot in an ammunition dump.” (13:08, Novak, reflecting on risky earnings)
• “I could do that easily. I've done it two or three times and it's no trick at all. But I refuse because it's a vulgar display of willpower.” (14:52, Jocko, on sobering up)
• Hellman’s dry humor after Novak’s explanations:

  "If you got a geranium, it was grown out of a crack in the sidewalk." (22:16, Hellman)

• The closing musing on morality and misfortune:

  "The last card's the one that breaks your back." (27:42, Novak)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–03:38 – Pat Novak accepts the mysterious job
• 03:38–06:17 – Flower stand pick-up and ominous tail
• 08:22–10:54 – Novak delivers the plant to the sick woman
• 10:54–13:19 – Hellman accuses Novak of the murder
• 14:30–17:19 – Novak and Jocko strategize
• 18:22–20:46 – Confrontation, betrayal, and Novak knocked out
• 21:25–24:10 – No flower stand exists, Langley's double role revealed
• 25:09–27:42 – Final standoff at Janet Street, fatal ends
• 27:42–29:05 – Case resolution, Novak’s closing thoughts

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Episode Tone & Language

• The dialogue is sharp, sardonic, and loaded with the moody atmosphere of noir detective fiction.
• Novak’s narration is filled with dry wit and hard-boiled similes, creating an immersive, suspenseful mood.
• Supporting characters convey a sense of world-weariness, fatalism, and humor characteristic of Golden Age radio mysteries.

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Summary for New Listeners

This episode of Pat Novak for Hire packs all the thrills of Golden Age noir: a cynical investigator, shadowy femmes fatales, poisonous secrets, and a plot twisting through back alleys and seedy rooms. What begins as a simple delivery quickly unravels into a tale of treachery among spies, anchored by sharp writing and memorable performances. Novak’s world is tough and unforgiving—where even a geranium can be deadly, and each player might be one step away from betrayal.

Listen for the snappy dialogue, the dark humor, and a tangle of motives that remain surprising until the final act.

Transcript

[Pat Novak]

Welcome to Choice Classic Radio, where we bring to you the greatest old time radio shows. Like us on Facebook. Subscribe to us on YouTube and thank you for [e-mail]. Sure. I'm pat novak for hire. That's what the sign out in front of my office says. Pat Novak for hire. Oh, there are a lot of ways to put it. But it's easier if you let your slip show right from the beginning. Because down on the waterfront in San Francisco, you got to do a lot of things to make a living. Otherwise, it's like being a CPA in a charity ward. I rent boats and do anything else that'll keep a bum lawyer in beer and broadcloth. Works out all right. You make a few bucks if you don't forget. There are only two questions you can ask anybody down here. When and how much. Even then, you gotta watch out. Unless you like your trouble without a chaser. I found that out Monday night. I closed shop and I walked down the street to Noonan's Bar. Well, it really isn't a bar. Just a couple of stools with a bottle opener and a jukebox full of Irish tenners. But it's good enough to give you a shove down the road. Must have been about 11. I was sitting at one end of the place by myself, sorting out mistakes and spending a half dollar on the bar. So I don't know when she came in, but she came in. I remember that.

[Patsy]

Does it always come up heads?

[Pat Novak]

If you're lucky. Who are you?

[Patsy]

If you're that lucky, you'd have dollar bills to do it with.

[Pat Novak]

Look, I'm low on chatter. Why don't you go down the counter and talk to the racy set, huh?

[Patsy]

I'd rather buy you a drink.

[Pat Novak]

Newland's a social clamor. He's gonna throw you out.

[Patsy]

You buy me one then and I'm.

[Pat Novak]

Broke to strangers now. That winds up the conversation. See you later.

[Patsy]

We'll talk thirsty then. I went to your office, but they said you were over here. I want to hire you, Mr. Novak.

[Pat Novak]

You got a name to go with a figure?

[Patsy]

It won't fit in your file. I want you for three hours work tomorrow afternoon. Can you do it?

[Pat Novak]

I said yes. It might be too tough.

[Patsy]

There's a flower stand at the corner of Post and Kearney. I want you to go to that stand tomorrow afternoon at 2 o', clock, pick up a geranium, plus this address.

[Pat Novak]

I'm too big for a Western Union.

[Patsy]

Boy, are you too big for $50?

[Pat Novak]

No. Must be a pretty geranium at those prices.

[Patsy]

Some people love nature, Mr. Novak. Do you care?

[Pat Novak]

No. I know a guy who likes parrots.

[Patsy]

You go to the stand and tell them you want the plant. Take it straight to the address I gave you. Important. Don't let it out of your hands.

[Pat Novak]

For 50 bucks, I'll act like we're married.

[Patsy]

I better give you the money now.

[Pat Novak]

Well, you're eager. Suppose I don't deliver?

[Patsy]

I found you tonight. I can do it again.

[Pat Novak]

Well, where do I get in touch with you?

[Patsy]

You don't, Mr. Novak. This is the last time over the course, so take a good look now.

[Pat Novak]

Yeah. I'm away past midnight already. Suppose something goes wrong tomorrow?

[Patsy]

Then it's very simple, Mr. Novak. You won't have to send for flowers. Good night.

[Pat Novak]

I watched her as she turned and walked out the door. She was wearing a flowered print dress, and as she walked, the rose kept getting mixed up with the daisies. She walked with a nice friendly movement like the trap door on a gallows. As she reached the door, she turned and smiled once as if she knew the 50 bucks was just for laughs. I scooped up the dough before anybody could see it because at noons everybody gets broke in one motion. I left a few minutes later and I went home to bed. I dream real good on 50 bucks. So I felt good the next afternoon when I got to the corner of Post and Kearney. The flower stand was there, all right and I leaned against the storefront to watch the guy for a while. Maybe I should have known then, because right away I got the idea he didn't know what he was doing. But you can say that for a lot of senators. So I let it ride. When the Jewish store clock across the street said 2 o', clock, I walked up to him.

[Gerard]

Can I do something for you?

[Pat Novak]

Yeah. Give me a geranium plant.

[Gerard]

What kind you want?

[Pat Novak]

Big one, a small one. I don't care. It's 2 o'. Clock. I'll take that kind of.

[Gerard]

You wanted uranium.

[Pat Novak]

Look, it's gonna get dark. You got that long to argue?

[Gerard]

Here's the one you want.

[Pat Novak]

Then you say so. You want to wrap it?

[Inspector Hellman]

No, it's all right.

[Gerard]

You carry it that way.

[Pat Novak]

Well, I'm gonna look real funny walking around with a handful of geranium.

[Gerard]

Why do you want one then?

[Pat Novak]

I see you don't feel like talking about it. No.

[Gerard]

Just take it and be happy.

[Pat Novak]

Yeah. How much?

[Gerard]

Nothing doesn't cause a thing.

[Pat Novak]

Suit yourself. You won't make much dough that way.

[Gerard]

I'll make even less talking to you. Just take the plant and be careful.

[Pat Novak]

Oh. How do you know what I'm gonna do with the geranium?

[Gerard]

I don't, mister. Some people eat them. Just be careful and goodbye.

[Pat Novak]

The way things were going, Poe street began to look like the main dragon. Casablanca. I watched the guy fumble around with a customer for a minute and then I crossed the street and started up toward Union Square. The cop gave me a kind of a funny look when he saw the geranium. He smiled as if he thought I had a pair of dancing sandals in my coat pocket. About halfway up the block, I stopped to look in an art store. Right then I noticed the guy with a cane for the first time. He was standing near me looking in the other window. He was a little guy and kind of wrinkled and bumpy. His skin looked like a cucumber full of powder. I started up the street and pulled in at a bookstore. He stopped too, and I knew he was following me. When I got to Stockton, I turned left and walked toward Geary Street. Halfway down is a little street called Maiden Lane. Oh, it sounds gentle, but so does Vesuvius when you say it fast. I just started across when a black Nash pulled away from the curb. Some dead relative must have put in a good word for me.

[Patsy]

Hey, over here.

[Jocko Madigan]

Hey.

[Patsy]

Pull him over. Hey, over here. You all right, mister?

[Pat Novak]

Yeah, yeah, I'll do. I guess you're lucky you're not dead. Yeah. We're all that way. Give me a hand, will you? Thanks. That car came out of there and.

[Jocko Madigan]

Hit you on purpose.

[Inspector Hellman]

You're lucky you're not dead.

[Pat Novak]

All right, I owe the house a free roll. This lady here took down the license number. You want it? Yeah. Thanks.

[Patsy]

You sure you're all right?

[Pat Novak]

Yeah, I'm a slow bleeder. I dropped a plant somewhere around here. That's it?

[Jocko Madigan]

This red thing?

[Pat Novak]

Yeah, that's it. Thanks.

[Jocko Madigan]

Didn't even hurt the plant.

[Inspector Hellman]

That's something.

[Pat Novak]

You know, when I saw that car.

[Patsy]

Come out of there and hit you.

[Jocko Madigan]

You know what I thought about you?

[Pat Novak]

That fella's lucky he's not dead.

[Patsy]

Yeah.

[Pat Novak]

Y. Well, I looked around, but the little guy with a cane had disappeared as I crossed Union Square. I kept looking around, but he was gone. I tried to forget about it, but I couldn't get it out of my mind. Kept coming back and showing up again like a bad reputation. Why had the guy started to follow me and then stop so suddenly? And how about that guy in the car and that $50 geranium well, I got a cab over at the St. Francis stand and I wrote out to the address that the girl gave me. On the way, I looked at the flower. From what I could see, it was just a geranium planted in a little wooden box like all the rest of them. It bloomed unevenly with buds that looked too nervous to come out. Like a debutante with thick ankles. Well, the cab pulled up at the address. It was a rooming house out on Clay Street. The note I had said third floor rear. So I went up there and knocked. There was no answer. So I went in, expecting to find anything. Anything but what I did find. Hello?

[Patsy]

Go away.

[Jocko Madigan]

Go away.

[Patsy]

Leave me alone.

[Pat Novak]

She closed her eyes and stopped talking. She was so sick it showed like a searchlight in a cave. Her complexion was pasty and the color of a November sky. She had no expression on her face, just thin lips drawn so tightly the rims were white. No, she wasn't ready to quit yet. But you could tell she'd been papering the house for years and you wouldn't want to bet on her. She was going to last about as long as a warm snowflake. It was easy to tell. You got a bad cough. You need some sun.

[Patsy]

I need more than that.

[Pat Novak]

Yeah, I guess you do.

[Patsy]

Who are you?

[Pat Novak]

Relax, I'm not the welcome angel. I just brought you some flowers.

[Patsy]

Is it a joke? Somebody I don't know.

[Pat Novak]

Lady, with me it's a fifty dollar hustle. They're your flower, so you work out the right answer.

[Patsy]

Go away. Go away, please.

[Pat Novak]

You want the flowers?

[Patsy]

You brought them for me, didn't you? Leave them and go away.

[Pat Novak]

It's just a geranium. I'm gonna leave it on the table.

[Patsy]

Why'd they send you?

[Pat Novak]

My reason was 50 bucks.

[Patsy]

Did you come to hurt me?

[Pat Novak]

I don't know. Do you rate it?

[Patsy]

Oh, I'm too tired. You couldn't really hurt me, could you? Thank you for coming. Thank you for your kindness.

[Pat Novak]

Sure, if that's what it is, you're welcome. That's all she said. And that's all that happened in that little room up on Clay Street. Wasn't much and it wasn't enough to worry you. But for some reason I felt like a man in quicksand complaining about his height. When I left there, I took a car down a market street and I had dinner. Well, it didn't go right because I kept thinking about this afternoon and last night. Who did she mean by they? And where did all these people fit together? The guy with A cane. The gal that gave me the 50 bucks in the little chair about a maiden lane. I tried to forget about it, but it wasn't easy. Was like trying to change a typewriter ribbon with mittens on. After dinner I went home. Was about 8 o' clock and when I got in the apartment it was dark. Before I had a chance to put on the light, I knew somebody was in the bedroom. I walked over to the door. In the dim light it looked like a walrus in pants. But it turned out to be Inspector Hellman from Homicide.

[Inspector Hellman]

Hello, Novak. I just dropped in for a chat.

[Pat Novak]

You always chat with your hand in the bureau drawer.

[Inspector Hellman]

Dress full. I've been looking over your stuff.

[Pat Novak]

Is this a social call or are you out stealing?

[Inspector Hellman]

Where you been, Novak?

[Pat Novak]

What do you care, Hellman?

[Inspector Hellman]

All right, I'll tell you where I've been. In a third floor room out in Clay Street.

[Pat Novak]

I left one this afternoon.

[Inspector Hellman]

It's the same one. Your fingerprints are all over the joint.

[Pat Novak]

I'll bet you checked everywhere.

[Inspector Hellman]

What were you doing out there?

[Pat Novak]

Delivering flowers?

[Inspector Hellman]

Is that your best try, Novak?

[Pat Novak]

It's the best I'm going to do for you. If you don't like it, check with a woman out there. I brought her flowers and left. What woman? The one on the couch. A black haired girl with a half dead look.

[Inspector Hellman]

You're wrong twice. There's no girl out there. Unless he's tattooed on the guy's chest. And that guy doesn't have a half dead look.

[Pat Novak]

It's better than that all the way.

[Jocko Madigan]

That's right.

[Inspector Hellman]

He's dead enough to pray for.

[Jocko Madigan]

Will that do?

[Pat Novak]

Hellman's sleeve so full of fat I didn't expect anything else up there. He flipped on the light and I could see he was real pleased with himself. He was smiling like a guy who's just found his partner bidding no Trump with 13 spades. He sat down on the bed and unbuttoned his coat. Part of his stomach oozed out and hung over his belt like a 1910 lampshade. He lit a cigarette and then he began to run his tongue over a set of teeth that looked more like old mandolin pics than teeth. He blew smoke and looked about as appetizing as a piece of squid pie.

[Inspector Hellman]

Must have been a short argument, Novak. The coroner says the guy checked out in a hurry.

[Pat Novak]

What else does the coroner say it was?

[Inspector Hellman]

Good poison. You buy only the best, Novak.

[Pat Novak]

Don't stub your toe, Hellman. I went up there to deliver a geranium plant.

[Inspector Hellman]

So far you Got a good case? The guy was poisoned with a spring needle hidden in that geranium box.

[Pat Novak]

Who was he?

[Inspector Hellman]

He didn't say. And there wasn't any identification. Do you want to help?

[Pat Novak]

I don't know, Hellman. When I was there, we were doing Camille. Some ghost woman was dying on the couch by inches. It was her room. You better check.

[Inspector Hellman]

We did. The room was rented 10 days ago by a man named George Langley. The landlady says there's never been a woman in the room.

[Pat Novak]

That's what all landladies say. Wake up, Hellman. I stood there and watched her shake like a dust mop for 10 minutes. You can follow up on her and then check that Flora stand at Kearney and Post.

[Inspector Hellman]

What do I check for?

[Pat Novak]

Bull weevils? He's the guy that gave me that geranium plant. We'll check.

[Inspector Hellman]

And I want you down at headquarters by midnight tonight. Novak. You can talk to yourself till then. After that, you talk to us.

[Pat Novak]

I'll make it up from here on. Hellman, you don't like it the other.

[Inspector Hellman]

Way, suit yourself, Novak. You know when you're due. In the meantime, we'll find out what we can.

[Pat Novak]

I can't wait that long, Hellman. You couldn't find a tractor on the back porch. I'd hang if I waited for your boys.

[Inspector Hellman]

That's what you're going to do. And at midnight you can dangle as high to one.

[Pat Novak]

I don't mind, as long as my feet are on the same level as your head. When Hellman left, I sat down to try to piece things together. I knew everything was there if I could just shove it into place. Was like trying to swap an egg beer for a Mixmaster. I was pretty sure there was something about that geranium plant. I should remember one little thing that threw everything else out of focus. I finally gave up. I was 50 bucks ahead and one murder wrapped behind. Depends on how you like your fun. 50 bucks is all right, but the pleasure's limited. Like giving somebody a hot foot in an ammunition dump. If I was gonna drag the town, I needed help. So I looked up the only honest guy I know. An ex doctor and a boozer by the name of Jocko Madigan. Oh, he's all right for a guy who thinks people with steady hands are lazy. I finally found him in a little tinsel joint on Mason Street. It was high class for the neighborhood. The smoke was only a week old. And they had a cigarette girl. A long, leggy biscuit that wandered around trying to sell a Sour smile at sweet prices. Jocko was down at the end of the bar rolling some olives back and forth. The rhythm was fine.

[Jocko Madigan]

Ah, Patsy, you're just in time to help me off the wagon. A stout glass for Mr. Novak.

[Pat Novak]

No. I want to talk to you, Jocko. Oh, Patsy.

[Jocko Madigan]

Confidentially, I hate martinis. I just drink them for the vitamins. Everybody should have a few vegetables. And I have chosen olives.

[Pat Novak]

Look, I'm in trouble, Jocko. Will you sober up and talk?

[Jocko Madigan]

I could do that easily. I've done it two or three times and it's no trick at all. But I refuse because it's a vulgar display of willpower.

[Pat Novak]

Will you stop, Jocko?

[Jocko Madigan]

You know, Patsy, there are only two things that could cause my downfall. Whiskey or women. I'm not particular. You find a nice old widow and I'll quit this stuff.

[Pat Novak]

All right, all right.

[Jocko Madigan]

Some plump old party with a memory as vivid as my own. Preferably somebody rich enough. Convince me the lines in her face weren't put there by worry.

[Pat Novak]

Stop it, will ya, Patsy?

[Jocko Madigan]

I'll allow you to motivate my descent, but I will not permit you to bring it to a halt.

[Pat Novak]

Plastic bags, Plastic lids.

[Patsy]

What do we do with you?

[Pat Novak]

You can't go in the recycling bin, but you can be recycled if taken to a new recycle on center. Find one near [e-mail] OregonCenters.

[Jocko Madigan]

I. I apologize for interrupting.

[Pat Novak]

Go. What do you know about flowers?

[Jocko Madigan]

Oh, I think they're pretty on a woman's shoulder, but I suppose that's mixed devotion.

[Pat Novak]

Why? Well, I'm gonna need your help, Jocko. There's a dead guy out on Clay street and Hellman's campaigning for me. How do the flowers fit in a geranium plant? The guy was poured with a needle in the box. I took the plant up there to a woman.

[Jocko Madigan]

Clumsy approach. Why a geranium plant?

[Pat Novak]

It's a mixed up story. I got hired in Noonan's Bar to pick it up this afternoon at Post and Kearney. I got gumshoed all the way up Post street and hit by a car at Maiden Lane.

[Jocko Madigan]

You look bent when you walked in.

[Pat Novak]

I took it out to this address and I gave it to a dying woman. Now she's disappeared and Hellman's after me for the dead guy on her floor. I need some help, Jocko. I gotta find a way out of this.

[Jocko Madigan]

Well, you passed up a golden opportunity when that car hit you.

[Pat Novak]

That's one of the places you come in. Now, here's the License. I want you to hop down and check the registration, will you? What is Find out who runs that flower stand at the corner of Post and Kearney. Now, if you get back in time, I can check tonight. Tag by my place. I'll either be there or I'll leave a message.

[Jocko Madigan]

Where are you going?

[Pat Novak]

To find a woman.

[Jocko Madigan]

That seems like the peculiar way to handle a crisis.

[Pat Novak]

Well, I gotta find the gal that started me out on this.

[Jocko Madigan]

Patsy, I wish you'd forget about women.

[Pat Novak]

And I wish you'd forget about whiskey.

[Jocko Madigan]

Ah, yes, we both have our problems. Except I enjoy one safeguard that you don't. At least I can look at the label and tell how old it is. Good night, lover.

[Pat Novak]

Well, I got out of there and I went by Noonan's place. I asked him if he knew the girl in there last night. He said, After 45, a man forgets about a woman's face. So I checked that lead off and started on the other girl. I hit all the cab stands out near Clay street and I finally found a hack that picked her up. It was about 4 o'. Clock. He said she had luggage and rode over to Janet street on Telegraph Hill. But he couldn't remember the address at the best rates in town. So I checked off that one, too. From here on, it was gonna be a rough ride. I didn't know where to dig. I might as well have been out looking for a stick with one end. I like to try. One more thing. I went by to search the Clay street joint. It was a dirty room and the geranium hadn't helped. There was a sweet odor and a thick, dusty cloud all over the place was like going to sleep in a bag of an old vacuum cleaner. There wasn't anything there that could help, and on my way out, I heard footsteps. I snapped off the light and waited. The door opened slowly. I couldn't see her face, but I knew it was the girl from Newness. Turn on the light and you'll see your friends.

[Patsy]

Well, Mr. Novak?

[Pat Novak]

Sit down. Let's talk in here.

[Patsy]

Why don't we drop our gymnasium and get some fresh air?

[Pat Novak]

We can start with your name.

[Patsy]

It's easy. Say your piece, Mr. Novak. I've run out of 50 bills.

[Pat Novak]

Yeah, that's the way it is with my patients. Who killed the guy?

[Patsy]

I don't know, Patsy. I can narrow it down to one county for you, but after that you'll have to do your own sorting.

[Pat Novak]

The police think I did it.

[Patsy]

Maybe you did. You look big enough to carry the load. I don't care, Patsy. I'm not going to weep. I've got about three tears left. And he isn't high enough on the list to rate one.

[Pat Novak]

Who was he and how'd you find out he was dead?

[Patsy]

There's generally a dirty rim in the washbowl. Same was Charles Dowd. Don't worry about him. There's a small time guy set the fast music.

[Pat Novak]

Well, I'm gonna worry about him because Homicide's worried about him.

[Patsy]

Then worry in a calm way, Patsy, you do it that way.

[Pat Novak]

I'll help. Sit down. Now, look, lady, you better help out or I'll lose your teeth for you.

[Patsy]

And everything, I guess.

[Pat Novak]

Who runs that flower stand?

[Patsy]

It wouldn't help when he gave you that geranium. There was nothing wrong.

[Pat Novak]

For 50 bucks, there had to be something wrong.

[Patsy]

It wasn't full of poison. I know it was in there and it wasn't poison. Somebody made a switch up here.

[Pat Novak]

What happened to the girl?

[Patsy]

I don't know. Relax, you're gonna use up all that nice energy.

[Pat Novak]

Look, sis, you can haul in those long legs and give me some answers.

[Patsy]

I'm gonna haul them in long enough to ask a few questions. My turn now, Patsy, Back over toward the door. You can talk on your way.

[Pat Novak]

You look good with a gun.

[Patsy]

You made a deal with George. I want to hear about it, though.

[Pat Novak]

I don't even know George. If he's got a part, you just dealt him in.

[Patsy]

I'm too old for fairy tales, Patsy. George got to you and found out about that geranium box. It couldn't have happened any other way.

[Pat Novak]

Sorry, lady.

[Patsy]

Remember, you're nothing to me. No back. You're 50 bucks worth of muscle. You're 50 bucks. Now spend you fast.

[Pat Novak]

Go easy. You're gonna break open a seam. I don't know your boy, George, and I can forget you, too.

[Patsy]

You can do it while you're talking. I came a long way, Patsy. Too far to toss it over for a mail order bum. You're just a passing pair of pants to me. And I'll throw you away faster than a wad of gum.

[Pat Novak]

Now's your chance, baby.

[Patsy]

Come on, let's go. You're hurting my shoulder.

[Pat Novak]

Relax. You're not gonna have one in a minute. Come on, drop it. Now reach down for that gun and I'll jam you in a basement faster than a ton of coal. All right, now let's hear you talk.

[Patsy]

I would, Patsy, but you're not listening.

[Pat Novak]

That's what happens when you don't watch the door. Somebody Falls in love with the back of your head. I didn't even have a chance to see who hit me. I don't know what good it would have done. Unless you're the kind of a guy who keeps a scrapbook on those things. When I woke up, I had company. He was taking a nap, too, Only his was going to last longer. It was the little guy with a cane. He tailed me right to the end. He was lying there with his mouth open and a bunch of pink gum showing. As if he was trying to pick up a few bucks with a toothpaste. Dad. I was still groggy and I couldn't see around the room. But I could hear a slow, steady, squeaking sound. I turned my head and Hellman was sitting in a rocking chair. He looked as happy as a choir boy on Christmas Eve.

[Inspector Hellman]

You have a good sleep, Milwaukee?

[Pat Novak]

Why don't they move the morgue down here?

[Inspector Hellman]

Yeah, I guess you ran out of poison.

[Pat Novak]

Why don't you go away, Hellman?

[Inspector Hellman]

Home maybe, huh?

[Pat Novak]

I don't owe your wife anything, so I'll wish that.

[Inspector Hellman]

Who's the guy?

[Pat Novak]

I don't know.

[Inspector Hellman]

You look chummy when I got here.

[Pat Novak]

I don't know. Hellman. He followed me all over Post street this afternoon. Check him yourself. I did.

[Inspector Hellman]

There's nothing on him.

[Pat Novak]

I'll bet his gold fillings are gone now.

[Inspector Hellman]

Your trial run was a guy named Charles Dowd.

[Pat Novak]

I know.

[Inspector Hellman]

He was arrested in 1942 on suspicion of espionage.

[Pat Novak]

He's in business again. A whole bunch of them are. And the kicker has something to do with that geranium plant.

[Inspector Hellman]

What bunch?

[Pat Novak]

These dead guys and a lot of others on the same schedule. It's that geranium plant. It all started at Post and Kearney. You better check that florist stand.

[Inspector Hellman]

Don't you ever get tired, Novak?

[Pat Novak]

Huh?

[Inspector Hellman]

We checked the florist stand at Post in Kearney. The answer is no.

[Pat Novak]

Did you talk to the guy?

[Inspector Hellman]

No, because there is no Flora stand at Post in Kearney.

[Pat Novak]

You're crazy, Hellman. I got a geranium plant there this afternoon.

[Inspector Hellman]

There's no florist stand at Post in Kearney. If you got a Gerard was grown out of a crack in the sidewalk.

[Pat Novak]

I left Hellman standing there over the dead man. The little guy was looking up at Hellman with a dull board. Looked like an usher in a burlesque house. I was sure now there was something about that uranium I'd missed. If I could find the string and pull it, the whole thing had unravel the questions Were piling up. And there was only one answer. Who got to that box and made a switch? Well, it was close to 11 when I got back to my apartment. Jocko was in the kitchen working on an experiment.

[Jocko Madigan]

Ah, Patsy, I'm drinking to your memory. I'm making up for cheap booze with extra sentiment.

[Pat Novak]

What'd you find out?

[Jocko Madigan]

You were mixed up. There is no Flower Standard Kearney and Post.

[Pat Novak]

Now, look, I've been through all at once. It was Post and Kearney. I couldn't have made a mistake.

[Jocko Madigan]

Anybody can come confuse a street. It can be done easily. I once confused two whole suburbs.

[Pat Novak]

Yeah, all right.

[Jocko Madigan]

I boycotted a bar in Alameda for months before I found out they gave me the Mickey in San Carlos.

[Pat Novak]

Now, look, I know what I did, Jocko. Maybe the flower stand moved. Maybe it was never there before. But today it was at Post and Kearney. How about that license number?

[Jocko Madigan]

The car is registered in the name of George Langley. Who's he?

[Pat Novak]

He rented the murdered room. And he's mixed up in a switch on that uranium plant.

[Jocko Madigan]

What kind of switch?

[Pat Novak]

I don't know. But whatever it was, George did it. When it left that stand, there was something else in it besides a poison needle. Everybody know it. The girl and the little guy with a cane. Probably the guy that drove that car.

[Jocko Madigan]

They switched plans.

[Pat Novak]

No, they changed.

[Patsy]

Yeah.

[Pat Novak]

Yeah, I guess it could have done that too, huh?

[Jocko Madigan]

Was the man with the cane behind you when you got hit by the car?

[Pat Novak]

Yeah. I think you're right. Jocko.

[Jocko Madigan]

He wasn't trying to kill you. In the confusion, the man with the cane switched plants on you.

[Pat Novak]

Jacko, you're an angel. I'm gonna do something for you someday.

[Jocko Madigan]

You already have. I charged this bottle of Whis to you.

[Pat Novak]

Yeah, Novak talking.

[Inspector Hellman]

I got news for you.

[Pat Novak]

Mine's good too. That poison needle plant was engineered by the little guy with a cane.

[Inspector Hellman]

We identified him. His fingerprints match an espionage agent called George Langley.

[Pat Novak]

Well, he was due any minute.

[Inspector Hellman]

There's nothing else on him except he lived in a place up in Janet Street.

[Pat Novak]

So what happened? That way. That's where the other geranium is. Hellman, you better get up there before they ring down the curtain. That other plant's gonna draw all the boys and girls. What does that prove? Nothing, except you haven't got any business bothering a flower unless you're a bee. Well, you never know how the cards are gonna fall. But when it's a wild game like Red Dog, whichever way they fall, it's gonna hurt. And the last card's the one that breaks your back. So when Hellman hung up, I grabbed a cab and rushed out to Janet Street. It's a little short street, draped down the side of Telegraph Hill like a torn ribbon. When Hellman pulled up at the top of the hill, I met him and we started down at George Langley's address. Hellman opened the front door, and as we started in the bedroom, we ran into a traffic jam.

[Patsy]

I'm sorry.

[Pat Novak]

Hello, Evie, this is Hellman from Homicide.

[Patsy]

I don't have time now, Pat.

[Pat Novak]

That's all you got, baby. Grab her bag there, Hellman.

[Patsy]

Patsy, you're crazy.

[Pat Novak]

Open her bag, Hellman. That's what they're all after. There's the geranium over by the window.

[Inspector Hellman]

Let's have the bag, lady.

[Gerard]

You're all too grabby. I'll take it. Come on, Edie.

[Pat Novak]

Who's this guy, Pixie Hellman. He's the guy that sold me the flower down at Post and Kearney.

[Gerard]

I'm sorry you got mixed up, Novak, but I'm short on regrets tonight.

[Pat Novak]

Give me the bag.

[Inspector Hellman]

Evie.

[Patsy]

Go easy. We're going to get in too deep.

[Gerard]

You're in up to your nostrils now, baby.

[Inspector Hellman]

The bag.

[Gerard]

I want that piece of paper.

[Patsy]

You don't need a gun, Gerard.

[Gerard]

That's up to you, E. You double.

[Pat Novak]

Cross me and I'm too old for.

[Gerard]

A new set of tricks.

[Patsy]

That's the way it had to be, Gerard. You can see that when George cut in, there was nothing else to do. It was high man in, low man out.

[Inspector Hellman]

You're out then.

[Gerard]

I want the bag.

[Patsy]

Stay away from me, Jerry.

[Gerard]

Give me time.

[Inspector Hellman]

I'll get far away.

[Patsy]

I'm going to hang on to it. Stay away, Jerry.

[Inspector Hellman]

I hear you, but that's all.

[Jocko Madigan]

Baby.

[Patsy]

Give me a hand.

[Pat Novak]

You're gonna need more than that, Angel.

[Patsy]

Help me to the couch.

[Pat Novak]

Sure. Come on. There you are.

[Patsy]

Thanks, Patsy. You didn't owe me that.

[Pat Novak]

I can't take it back now.

[Patsy]

How's Gerard?

[Pat Novak]

He bleeds big.

[Patsy]

If I wasn't so tired, laugh and laugh.

[Pat Novak]

No, I wouldn't do that, Angel. You're gonna be there in time to hear the echo. What's in the bag?

[Patsy]

A formula. What other thing, pet?

[Pat Novak]

Yeah, one other thing.

[Inspector Hellman]

What'd she say?

[Pat Novak]

I don't know, Hellman. She took it with her.

[Inspector Hellman]

Where does that leave us?

[Pat Novak]

Short one girl. She's in the apartment or on her way up.

[Patsy]

Don't look too hard, Mr. Novak.

[Inspector Hellman]

How many more are there?

[Pat Novak]

She's the big act. How do your friends look, sweetheart?

[Patsy]

They look her way they should. They watched me get sick. They didn't do anything about it. They sat around waiting for the last ounce of blood to dry up.

[Pat Novak]

You better go with Hellman.

[Jocko Madigan]

Please.

[Patsy]

Take me while you have a chance. They think that. No, no.

[Pat Novak]

Yeah, you're more than ready.

[Patsy]

I think they look wonderful. They let me work for years. They let me get this way. Then they sat around to listen to my heartbreak.

[Pat Novak]

Well, I don't know why, but Hellman was confused. He finally got the story off the girl in a hospital bed. All five of them had worked together once, gathering government information. But when the big order came, double cross set in like an epidemic. They were out after a formula. The dying girl had one half, and the other half was in that geranium plant. It came off the boat and went to that pony flower stand. Evie and Gerard were afraid to deliver it themselves, so they hired me to do it. The sick girl was in on another frame. She tipped off Langley, and he worked that hit and run with Dowd. Only he forgot to tell dad about the poison needle. When Dowd was dead, the girl checked out for Langley's place. Between them, they had the formula, but they got in the beef. So she killed him. She came back to plant a phony lead for Evie. And that's how I got sapped. Evie tumbled and headed for Langley's place. When she left, the girl planted Langley next to me in that room and then went back to watch Evie and Gerard in that overtime match. I guess she was too sick to care one way or the other. Well, Hellman asked only one question. How come five such bad people ever got together in one shuffle? I don't know, except most people are full of a lot of good and a lot of bad. The day we met him, all the bad was showing.

[Patsy]

Foreign.

[Gerard]

Forces Radio Service has just brought you Pat Novak for Hire, starring Jack Webb. Pat Novak is produced by William P. Russo. Jocko Madigan is played by Tudor Owen. Inspector Hellman is played by Raymond Burr. Music was composed and conducted by Basil Adlam. Be with us again next week when over most of these same stations, we'll bring you Pat Novak for Hire. This is the United States Armed Forces Radio Service, the voice of information and education.

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